Top LIJ posts in 2008
9 Jan
I know, I’m late. Late in posting my New Year resolutions and a retrospective on 2008. Let me explain.
After an exhausting 48-hour journey from Sydney to Tokyo, I needed a week to recover and keep up with Beauty Box. Do not fly Jetstar if you have to be somewhere urgently.
Due to an “engineering problem”, my return flight was delayed overnight. We were shuttled from the Gold Coast to a Brisbane hotel 200km from the airport and back to the Gold Coast. Imagine moving hundreds of passengers from point A to B to A — lots of queuing to go through immigration, get baggage, get on the bus, check into the hotel, check out of the hotel, queue for the bus, back at airport check-in and security. My god, it was a nightmare.
Also, waking up at 3am to catch a 7am flight that was delayed again for over an hour topped off this lovely escapade. Argh.
I’m rested and ready to rock online again.
Last year was very eventful with lots of highs and lows. Here are the highlights of 2008:
I started the year in Nepal that was mind-blowing and gorgeous for the whole three weeks I was there, I fell sick frequently but picked up on my health again by eating fresh fruit, vegetables, and yogurt daily, I said goodbye to teaching and buried myself in social media and blog building, then came the retrenchment months which taught me a lot about finances, patience, optimism, and just being resourceful, Beauty Box was born as a short-term solution but could be the key to the lifestyle we desire in Japan, and said hello to Sydney for three weeks to wrap up the year.
After looking at my Google Analytics data, here are the top 10 posts in this space:
Meiji amino collagen: Miracle or farce. I really have to thank Oprah for this one because the product was featured on her show, Beauty Secrets From Around The World.
The Singapore Prime Minister dishes out dating advice. I don’t get political on my blog but this one brought in a heap of traffic from Singapore.
My favourite Japanese shampoo. Ah, the power of Japanese beauty products. ‘Nuff said.
What it feels like being retrenched was an honest snapshot of my state of mind during this period. Losing a job is not the end of the world, and when something major like this happens, it can only change you for the better.
My Coach obsession was my red sports car. I went bonkers before I turned 30 and it showed that collecting stuff was not my thing after all.
Teaching English in Japan: Getting the job. Glad this was of help to many peeps. I still get emails from readers asking for more in-depth advice on this topic.
The Japanese reinvented the convenience store. I heart conbinis.
A new Japanese recipe: Mirin and soy sauce chicken. This was a surprise because it’s quite a homey type of post. I guess the simple things in life tend to strike a chord with everyone.
My life as a sex columnist in an uptight country. An interesting phase in my career…
Another daily life quirk talks about sanitary napkins and Japanese loo etiquette.
No related posts.
Well, you know that Jetstar is a cheapo airline, so you can’t expect all that much from them – and they are related to Qantas too. Though my brother and his gf flew to and from Japan with them ok just recently.
I turned up 20 mins before a domestic flight was supposed to leave, and they wouldn’t let us on. Virgin Blue do, but Jetstar wouldn’t, so had to buy another ticket – not on Jetstar. Haven’t flown with them again.
Yes, I’ve to remember you get what you pay for.
Well, the kangaroo and I don’t usually fly Jetstar internationally but it seems this festive season has ridiculously high airfares (double the price of last year’s Xmas period). The kangaroo speculated that the airlines buy their fuel six months in advance so it’s only six months later that these rates will reflect in the air ticket prices.
Virgin Blue and Virgin America are pretty gd budget airlines. Richard Branson knows what he’s doing, I guess!
Not to mention that if you fly Jetstar to Melb you land next to a paddock of cows, in the middle of nowhere, a 40 min bus ride (have to pay for it of course) from the city.
Of course, when the oil price goes up, the fuel surcharge (which now make up a large proportion of the fare) goes up nearly instantly, but when the fuel price goes down, the surcharge is always lowered very slowly….